A wide variety of housing assemblies are known in the art for dispensing liquids from a variety of container configurations. Many of these housings include a lever that is pushed or pulled to dispense a liquid from the container. The hygienic requirements for dispensing various liquids differ from one environment to another. In hospitals, for example, levers that are repeatedly touched by bare hands can serve to spread germs from person to person through contact with the hands.
Samhall Femett AB, Sollentuna, Sweden, provides a liquid dispenser marketed under the trademark DISPENSOPAC.RTM. for use in environments with high hygienic demands. A long armlever or push bar is provided such that the liquid can be dispensed by pressing on the end of the lever with a person's elbow or forearm, such that the hands do not contact the lever. The lever engages a pump for dispensing a quantity of liquid soap. In the Samhall Femett product, the armlever is connected to a wall mounted bracket, which holds a pouch-like container to which the pump or valve is connected.
In the hospital and other environments, it is undesirable to have a lever protruding outwardly from the container that could catch people or devices passing by. In some dispensing systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,926,347; 4,324,348; and 4,932,562, a housing is provided having an internal actuating means that engages a wall of a pouch within the housing that contains the liquid to be dispensed. In these systems, although the protruding lever is eliminated, it is difficult to achieve complete evacuation of the contents of the liquid pouch and contaminating air may be drawn into the container after release of the lever.
It is thus desirable to provide a dispensing housing operable in high hygienic demanding environments that also achieves a complete evacuation of the contents of the liquid soap, prevents air from being drawn thereinto, and is not overly obtrusive.